


O Captain! My Captain!

by tyjotyler



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Captain - Freeform, Feels, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Gay, Lieutenant Havers - Freeform, Light Academia Havers, M/M, Mutual Pining, The Captain is Gay (Ghosts TV 2019), Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27070435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tyjotyler/pseuds/tyjotyler
Summary: The captain tried to focus, he really did, but his eyes were busy taking in the full length of the other man in front of him. Dressed in smart dark brown trousers, black doc martens, a lighter shade of brown coat and good lord a white cricket jumper of all things. Brown hair neatly falling into place, eyes dark but lit up as if they contained the stars and the widest smile, teeth poking out from between lips, he’d seen in a while. He was gorgeous.And oh- he was staring wasn’t he?
Relationships: The Captain/Lieutenant Havers (Ghosts TV 2019), The Captain/William Havers
Comments: 13
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfiction. Please feel free to leave comments!
> 
> Shoutout to Emily (LieutenantHavers) supporting me through my anxiety over this and Spoom who had the lovely idea of Uni Ghosts students.
> 
> This is the result of me gushing in the ghiscord. Enjoy

The sounds of chattering and metal banging floated through the air loudly. The workshop doors flung open to display a murky light grey sky. Students were gathered about the different areas discussing engine parts and other nonsense that one student near the open door wasn’t paying attention to. His head was ducked inside a car bonnet, fiddling with the oil filter. Dressed in his overalls from his waist down, his torso covered with a dirty button up shirt, sleeves rolled up past his elbow: he looked like the prime example of an engineering student.

He hadn’t meant to look up. He was only trying to ask one of his fellow students for a spare pair of hands to help with the minor spill. But he had, and now the thought of dealing with the car’s oil change was quickly pushed out of his head. Any form of words to call for help died on his tongue as he found himself in a daze.

The reason for this?

A man looking quite confused around his surroundings. Which wasn’t the most unusual thing to happen, the university campus was somewhat of a maze, especially to new students. No, what caught Captain off guard was that this man was _attractive_.

“Cap?” One of his fellow students called, bringing him back to the car in front of him.

“Hmm? Oh yes.” He spoke mainly to himself. Now wasn’t the time to be looking at attractive men, he cursed himself, leaning back over the car’s open bonnet. He really did try to get back into the zone. He would have gotten there if _someone_ hadn’t interrupted him.

“Excuse me?” The voice, confident despite being very out of place, spoke. “Sorry to bother, but do you perhaps know where the History building is?”

Captain huffed, of course it was a confused first year, they walked into the workshop to ask for this kind of thing all the time. He leant back and turned to give the new student clipped but accurate directions, and froze.

“It’s just the map you see, I must have an old copy-“ the man in front of him continued to ramble, completely unaware of the panic he’d set off. The captain tried to focus, he really did, but his eyes were busy taking in the full length of the other man in front of him. Dressed in smart dark brown trousers, black doc martens, a lighter shade of brown coat and good lord a white cricket jumper of all things. Brown hair neatly falling into place, eyes dark but lit up as if they contained the stars and the widest smile, teeth poking out from between lips, he’d seen in a while. He was _gorgeous_.

And oh- he was staring wasn’t he?

The other man had stopped rambling by this point, smiling politely at Captain as he waited- presumably for an answer. Captain coughed a couple of times, to at least try to recall anything the other had said. But of course his mind just ran a blank.

“Terribly sorry, could you repeat that?” He asked, face flushing slightly. If the other had noticed his panic, he wasn’t bringing it up.

“The history building? I seem to be lost.” He answered, smiling softly. “I really should have been paying more attention, it’s my own fault.” He was shifting his satchel over his shoulder again, the leather lightly worn in but supporting what seemed to be the entire library's worth of books.

Captain, who seemed to finally be able to speak again, quickly answered. “No no, not your fault! They never give the new students the correct directions anyway.” He wondered if they did that on purpose, he wasn’t going to complain if it meant the man wouldn’t have walked into the workshop in the first place. “But luckily for you, I happen to know where you want to go.”

“Yes, quite” the other responded. He rocked slightly on his feet, “It's funny” he started, “I know where the library is- but not my lessons.” A tint of red covering his face, highlighting the light freckles dotted across his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his neck, perhaps with embarrassment.

The Captain raised an eyebrow at that, eyes drifting to the bag that seemed fit to burst. He shook his head softly, “You first years and too many books.”

“Pays to be reading and well informed on a subject” the other shot back, testing him. His face showed no sign of ill intention though, perhaps more of a friendly debate. “Education is learning to think for yourself, is it not?” He seemed to puff his chest out with his words, clearly passionate about the subject.

Captain held his hands up, not wanting to spark a debate on the amount of books the first years should be reading. But oh, a man so passionate about his own learning? The captain was gone. “As much as I’d love to debate you on this, I need to finish this”, he gestured to the car’s engine suddenly aware of his dirty hands, “and you need to get to class.” The other deflated slightly, dipping his head sheepishly. “Ah, forgot about that”, he apologised. “So history block?”

It was this moment that another student from the class spoke up from behind them, “Cap, I’ll finish this off. Take lover boy to his lesson.” Captain's eyes widened, beginning to stutter out that the other was _not_ ‘lover boy’, but paused at the other laughing softly in front of him. His heart swelled slightly at the sight, and okay he wasn’t ready to have the other leave him quite yet. He held up a finger to the other in a ‘one second’ gesture, walking quickly around the back of the room to clean his hands. He smiled to himself as he scrubbed soap into his fingers, he’d have to thank the other student at a later date for this.

As he walked back he picked up his backpack from the hooks on the wall, before returning to the man’s side. “Ready to go?” he smiled softly upon Captain’s approach. Captain nodded, “Let's get you to class Lieutenant.”

The other tilted his head to the side in slight confusion at that but smiled as they began walking back up the road. “Lieutenant Havers does have quite a nice ring to it” he spoke, letting the words drift into the air. The captain let the word float around in his head. Havers. It did indeed have a nice ring, “Well then Havers, that would make me the Captain."

Havers paused slightly, the gears slowly turning in his head, before it clicked. “Your name is Captain?” he spluttered out, looking at Captain with wide eyes. “I thought it was a nickname or something!” Captain raised his eyebrows again, but laughed at the others' bewildered expression. “I'm known as the Captain.. Only people I trust know my real name” he explained briefly. This was university, everyone was making up fake personalities to impress anyone anyway, but his military upbringing made a safety net he fell back into, simply going by ‘Cap’ or ‘Captain’.

“Well okay then, Captain” Havers smiled, looking at the other with a fond gaze. It wasn't his place to pry this man's emotions open, looking for answers that weren't his to receive. Maybe given time if they saw each other again? He tried to not get his hopes up.

“The history block” the Captain announced, turning the corner to reveal the hidden building the other had been searching for the entire time. Havers smiled, “Thank you Captain”, but he paused turning to face the other. “I don't know about you, but I’d quite like to do this again,” he wasn't quite making eye contact, his earlier confidence dwindling, “that is if you’re open to it?”

The Captain processed the request slowly, he wanted to see him again? With his blunt nature and disrespect for first year students? He mentally shook his head, banning those thoughts. He clearly did, if he had asked. His face felt warm as he answered, “I’d love that.”

“Great! It's a date.” Havers smiled, and just like that he was striding off into the building calling a “see you later!”, behind his shoulder. Leaving the Captain stood dazed yet again where he left him.

A date.

Wait- a date?!


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You waited outside in the cold for this long to just get my number?”
> 
> “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments- they made me cry. Please enjoy chapter two!

The Captain was nervous. It had hit him that within the short space of time he spent with Havers, he had rushed off in a blur of cream and browns without so much as a phone number. Which certainly posed more issues, namely how was he supposed to go for that date? 

Unless Havers had meant it in a friendly gesture, not actually meaning what he said, a way of thanks? His mind raced- reeling a host of memories of slipped words and embarrassment. His past coming back to haunt him briefly before he pushed the emotions back down with a scornful expression. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about his past..

Which brought him back to what he was doing- lurking outside the history block. After realising the mistake of not getting Havers’ number he quickly found out it was incredibly hard to actually find the man. Every lesson he found his eyes drifting away from his work and instead to the street- hoping to catch the sight of a cream jumper which would only belong to one man. However, Havers must have been taking a different route or sneaking past engineering when Captain wasn't looking, because he hadn’t seen the other man in coming close to a week. 

It was this that compelled him to go, a week later, after his lesson, to wait outside the history building. He had changed out of his overalls, instead leaving him in the same dirty shirt from last time but this time a pair of tapered black trousers. A pair of braces stretched over his shoulders, clasps helping to hold his trousers up. He must have looked a sight, judging from the slow trickle of students leaving who eyed him as they slipped off into the slowly darkening sky. 

The weather had taken a slight chill, the trees slowly turning a yellow and light orange as the turn of the seasons took their effect. His breath swirled out of his mouth and he was distracted by it for a moment.

“Why are you lurking?” 

The Captain jumped, looking up and locking eyes with Havers. His head was tilted slightly, a confused but fond expression covering his face. After receiving no answer for a second, he raised one eyebrow, “or do you just hang out outside buildings for fun?” 

The Captain felt his face heat up, “Not lurking- well- ah” he stumbled over his words, eyes widening at the others suggestion. “Actually, waiting outside in the cold for a certain someone is my favourite activity.” He huffed out a small laugh, ducking his head. “Ah no- i was looking for you.”

Havers seemed to take pity on him, “Is this the whole lack of a form of communication?” He paused for a fraction of a second, “Because I was waiting for a friend request on Facebook or .. something.”

“I don't have Facebook”

"That explains a lot actually”

Captain furrowed his brows at that, what  _ did _ it explain? He pushed the thought out of his head, “So if I could get your number?”

“You waited outside in the cold for this long to just get my number?”

“Yes.”

Havers paused trying to process the logic behind the others actions, and subsequently not finding  _ any.  _ He glanced at the other, realising the lack of layers the other was wearing. “Hold this” he muttered handing his coat to Captain, shucking his cream jumper up and over his head. 

“What are you doing?” The Captain began to flush, eyes darting from the jacket to Havers removing a layer. “Giving you my jumper.” He spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to do, which it probably was seeing as the Captain was losing feeling in his fingers. He held the head of the jumper open and pulled it quickly over the others head, “Stop complaining”, he muttered softly as the other made small noises of surprise from underneath the fabric. 

Captain huffed, embarrassed but pulling the jumper correct on his frame, the sleeves almost covering his fingers completely. The whole ordeal certainly made him feel much warmer anyway, if his face and racing heart weren’t a big giveaway. “Let's get a drink- my treat”, Havers spoke, taking the coat back from the other and pulling it around his frame. “Plus I don't want to be the reason you froze to death.”

As they walked the last rays of the setting sun peaked out behind a few scatterings of clouds, framing the two as they walked down the street. A light breeze sent a few leaves from their branches to the earth, tumbling through the air until they came to rest on the ground. The Captain found his fingers to be hurting slightly from the cold, silently pleased that the other had given up his prized jumper, as it now provided some relief from the cold.

It didn't take them long to find a local cafe, immediately claiming a booth in the corner by the window. Havers, who argued that it was his fault the other had to wait in the cold, stated that he would pay.

“Only if I pay next time,” the Captain shot back before adding, “black coffee please Havers- nothing extra.” 

The other nodded, walking off to order for the both of them. Captain watched him from the booth, easily confident as he leant up against the counter to order. Something of a natural born leader, the captain mused, Havers bold when he needed to be and yet the flip of the coin soft and passionate. The Captain hesitated, he had been easily infuriated with men like Havers in his past, swept off his feet quickly with no lack of stumbling. Which made it even more infuriating- to have something so perfect waved in front of his face and still be unsure, unsafe even. 

The Captain cursed himself, he wasn't thinking about his past, that's what he told himself anyway. Any more existential thoughts were swept away by a black coffee being pushed across the table to sit in front of him. Havers spoke with authority “Drink, you’ll feel better.”

He nodded his thanks, bringing his cold fingers to cup the cup which gave off waves of heat. Taking a sip he sighed,  _ of course he’s right. “ _ Thank you Havers.”

Havers waved his hand in a dismissive way, “Anything for my Captain.” Dipping his own head to his cup taking a sip of-  _ hot chocolate _ ? Of course he drinks hot chocolate, thought the Captain. 

“It’s William by the way,” He spoke up catching the Captain's eyes, “William Havers.” 

The rest of the late afternoon bleed easily into the evening, sun setting leaving the cafe lit by only overhead dimly lit lights. As they stood to leave Havers held out a hand expectantly, the Captain froze- surely he didn’t mean-

“Phone. So I can put my number in there.” Havers explained, Captain trying to ignore the sink of disappointment in his chest. He fumbled in his pocket and produced a block of an iPhone 4, which Havers raised an eyebrow at. “It gets the job done.” The only excuse given.

After tapping away on the screen Havers handed the phone back, their fingers bumping against each other. They both blushed, pulling their hands away from the contact.

“Well I need to get home.” Havers explained, rubbing the back of his neck. He picked up his empty cup to dispose of on his way out, “Text me!”

The Captain nodded dumbly back, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Lurking seemed worth it considering the outcome, but perhaps not in so little layers next time. 

As he walked back to the shared uni house with his friends, family he should say, he mentally prepared himself for any questions.

After all, he was still in a cream cricket jumper.

  
  



End file.
